Among the recurring characters in Reinhardt’s sharp-witted cartoons is a Cubist painting that talks back to an uncomprehending viewer. “Ha ha, what does this represent?” asks the viewer, pointing at the painting. To which the painting replies angrily, “What do you represent?” Reinhardt embraced the aesthetics of Cubism and European Constructivism. In this collage, he carries forward the pioneering collage work of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque with an energetic composition of cut and pasted printed paper on board. Reinhardt updates the contained quality of Cubist composition by employing the allover aesthetics of the New York School, expanding his collage out across the surface of the board to its very edges.

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